Harassment in the workplace

Dealing with Workplace Hostility as an Intern

An unpaid intern in New York City sued her employer for sexual harassment in 2009. The woman was a 22-year-old student at Syracuse University at the time of the assault. In October 2013, a Federal District Court Judge ruled that the intern could not file a law suit because she did not fall under legal employee status. He argued that her status as an unpaid intern working for educational purposes disqualified her as an actual employee. This ruling rekindled discussions of intern rights that had been in the news a few months previously.

In other news, a Federal District Court Judge ruled in favor of two unpaid interns in June 2013, also in New York. The interns were Production Assistants on the set of Black Swan, and sued Fox Searchlight Pictures because they preformed the work of paid employees. The judge ruled that Fox Searchlight had violated federal minimum wage laws by not paying the interns. In a New York Times article they said, "the judge forcefully called for following criteria that the Department of Labor has laid out for unpaid internships. Those rules say unpaid internships should not be to the immediate advantage of the employer, the work must be similar to vocational training given in an educational environment, the experience must be for the benefit of the intern and the intern’s work must not displace that of regular employees." Intern wage is an increasingly talked about subject because nowadays unpaid internships are the route to a full-time job. Because unpaid internships are increasing across the nation, interns should make themselves aware of the Human Resources policies where they work. Specifically, they should become aware of their rights regarding sexual harassment and discrimination.

Notably, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission defines sexual harassment as: "unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature...when...submission to or rejection of such conduct is used as the basis for employment decisions...or such conduct has the purpose or effect of...creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment." Women and men alike can be perpetrators of harassment. Creating an offensive working environment or using submission to harassment as a basis for employment decisions expands beyond the definition of sexual harassment. Discrimination based on race, sexual orientation, age, etc can be included. The woman in New York who lost her sexual harassment lawsuit is still suing her former employer for discrimination. She argues that she did not receive a full-time job offer because she did not accept her boss's advances. Nevertheless, she did the right thing by standing up for herself in this situation. Local laws provided her no harassment protection, but the national recognition of her case brought the issue of intern rights to the front pages. With that in mind, interns should know a little bit about how to handle situations of harassment.

Thus, any harassment experienced should be addressed. Ignoring an uncomfortable advance will not make it go away. First, make sure that the violator knows that you are not okay with their conduct. If you have a chronic harasser, keep evidence and notes on their actions and immediately report the offense to the Human Resources department. No action can be taken if there is not a proper report filed in a timely fashion. Do not assume that anyone else knows what is happening or has done anything about it.  If you were fired based on discriminatory practices, immediately write to the company with a formal complaint while being clear and direct. Send the letter with a signature requirement so you can prove it was received. Be sure to give the employer a time frame by which they have to respond before you will take legal action against them. Additionally, the more you document what happened, including dates, times, and names of people involved, the better your chances are of asserting your civil rights if necessary. Consequently, if you do not document events carefully, it will be your word against the company and you will have a hard time establishing that you have a case.

Indeed, with the financial state of both the nation and the recent graduates living in it, the main stream media has brought into light intern rights issues. The changing roles of interns in the workplace have blurred some lines of morality. Questions regarding intern rights like pay and sexual harassment are on the rise as business' have evolved an intern's role for the sake of free labor. Remember that your internship is meant to be an experience for learning and growth.

Resources: About.com, Equal Rights Advocates, Internships.com, New York Times, United States Department of Labor,  U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Created By: Alanna Gray